Southern Illinois woman killed after her car catches fire

A Bunker Hill woman was killed in a single-car accident early Monday morning.

Heather E. Frith, 32, of Bunker Hill was pronounced dead shortly after Macoupin County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Brighton Bunker Hill Road near Elliot Road, along with the Bunker Hill Police Department. Frith’s car was down a large ravine and “fully engulfed in flames,” according to a press release from the sheriff’s department.

“It was later determined that the vehicle was occupied by one individual who could not escape,” the release read.

Frith had been traveling westbound on Brighton Bunker Hill Road when she ran off the north side of the roadway into the creek, flipping the car over end and landing on the roof. The investigation is continuing, but it is believed that ice on the roadway was the cause of the accident, according to the sheriff’s department release.

The preliminary cause of death was blunt-force trauma, according to the Springfield State Journal-Register. Arrangements were pending.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Southern Illinois woman killed after her car catches fire."